Tread Lightly! is a national nonprofit organization with a mission to promote responsible recreation through ethics education and stewardship programs. Tread Lightly!’s educational message, along with its training and restoration initiatives are strategically designed to instill an ethic of responsibility in outdoor enthusiasts and the industries that serve them.

No matter your age or fitness, geocaching is great way to experience nature. Now, what exactly is geocaching? Geocaching is a real-world, outdoor treasure-hunting activity using GPS-enabled devices, like your smartphone or other smart device. Like a pirate seeking treasure, you will navigate to a specific set of GPS coordinates in an attempt to find a geocache — a container that comes in various shapes and sizes — hidden at a given location. There are more than 2 million official geocaches hidden around the globe.

Land Rover North America will auction a fully restored 1990 Range Rover Great Divide Replica, and the proceeds of the charity auction will support Tread Lightly!. This vehicle will be auctioned on eBay Motors from August 4-14.The auction winner will receive the vehicle and an opportunity to be a guest of Land Rover on a nine-day adventure on the 2014 Great Divide Expedition in early September. The auctioned Range Rover will take part in the Expedition and will be delivered to the bidder following the end of the event.A piece of off-road history, Land Rover’s inaugural Great Divide Expedition in the fall of 1989 helped launch Tread Lightly! as a national non-profit focused on fostering an ethic of good stewardship to proactively protect recreation access to America’s lands and waterways. The Range Rover being auctioned is a restored replica of the vehicles that were used on the original Great Divide Expedition 25 years ago. This year’s donation, auction and expedition mark a significant anniversary for both Tread Lightly! and Land Rover.“Land Rover is a founding partner that has strongly supported the Tread Lightly! organization, message and principles for decades,” said Lori McCullough, executive director for Tread Lightly!. “Tread Lightly! is proud of its partnership with Land Rover and is very excited to receive such a historic donation. All funds raised from the eBay charity auction will go to support Tread Lightly!’s efforts in protecting and enhancing recreation access and opportunities by promoting a conservation ethic.”Launched as a public awareness program in the mid-1980s by the U.S. Forest Service, Tread Lightly! evolved into a 501(c)(3) foundation in 1990 to cut red tape and initiate public-private collaboration. Today, Tread Lightly! is viewed as a credible, apolitical organization delivering critically needed, cost-effective solutions to today’s most pressing surrounding recreation issues. The nonprofit is a member-based organization with more than 40,000 individual members and supporters and more than 80 official partners.The 25th anniversary Great Divide Expedition will cover nearly 1,000 miles of unpaved roads and 4x4 trails along a portion of the original Great Divide route. Throughout this expedition, participants will navigate narrow rocky trails with steep drop-offs and mountain passes over 13,000 feet (4,000 meters).

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (December 6, 2012) - Tread Lightly!, a national nonprofit advocating outdoor ethics, is honored to be awarded its first grant from Utah State Parks through its Recreational Trails Program (RTP). “Heightening individuals’ sense of good stewardship is a critical yet daunting task in the quest to conserve our nation’s natural resources,” said Lori McCullough, Tread Lightly!’s executive director. “For the most part, conservation education has lacked adequate funding, prioritization and integration. However, this generous $100,000 grant is the maximum award permitted through Utah’s RTP and speaks volumes to State Parks’ commitment to actively manage outdoor recreation in Utah.”The critically needed funding will help implement education and outreach strategies in 2013 as part of a multi-faceted plan developed through the recently announced partnership dubbed RIDE ON Utah. By fostering good resource stewards, Tread Lightly! and its partners in RIDE ON Utah are trying to proactively protect access and opportunities to enjoy outdoor recreation in the great outdoors, especially activities involving the use of motorized vehicles. Preliminary research confirms Utah’s registered Off Highway Vehicle (OHV) owners enjoy everything from pleasure driving to fishing, camping, hunting and more.

“Everyone at Utah State Parks and Recreation is proud to be one of the first funding partners in this very timely campaign,” said Chris Haller, Off-Highway Vehicle Program Manager. “We are excited about the positive changes we can make as we integrate and disseminate the messages of Tread Lightly!, especially the new RIDE ON Designated Routes message throughout our public lands.” “Conservation education is a cost-effective and proven tool in reducing behaviors that cause resource and property damage and increase social conflict,” added Haller, “so this investment is a no-brainer.”The message RIDE ON Designated Routes was originally created by Tread Lightly! at the request of the U.S. Forest Service to communicate the importance of driving motorized vehicles only on routes or in areas designated as open to motor vehicle use. The partnership RIDE ON Utah is the first of its kind and unites Tread Lightly!, the U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, Utah Division of State Parks and Recreation, Utah Division of Wildlife Resources and Utah’s School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration together in an effort to spread a consistent message across boundaries.RTP was authorized by Congress in 1991 as part of the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act and is a critical lifeline in providing funding for recreational trail maintenance and trail building throughout the nation. Program revenues are generated from gas taxes and distributed to the states through the Federal Highway Administration. The recipients of RTP grants must match the funding at minimum of $1:1.“Considering the current controversies surrounding Utah’s public lands, we should have no problem growing a consortium of industry and nonprofit partners supporting shared and respected access to Utah’s public lands,” said McCullough. “We’ve been amalgamating funding from the private sector with public agencies’ resources from the onset of Tread Lightly! joining this partnership.”To better manage the use of motorized vehicles, commonly referred to as off-highway vehicles or OHVs, many agencies managing America’s natural resources have recently transitioned or are in the process of transitioning to regulating OHVs to a system of routes designated as open to motorized vehicles. Prior to implementing this tested management style, OHVs were considered unmanaged and were able to travel on any open road or trail unless posted closed. So, new travel management rules are a significant management shift – making it vitally important to communicate to the public that driving on designated routes is not only good for the environment, but also now required on most public lands.More information about RIDE ON Designated Routes and the RIDE ON Utah campaign can be found at http://www.treadlightly.org.

DETROIT – More than 35 volunteers from local four-wheel-drive clubs, Tread Lightly! and HUMMER joined U.S. Forest Service employees on August 1, for a day of trail maintenance on the Bald Mountain OHV route in Sierra National Forest, east of Fresno, Calif.

The project was the second trail maintenance event supported by a new Tread Lightly! program called HUMMER’s Recreation Rescue. Thanks to funding from HUMMER and the help from local volunteers, Tread Lightly! is providing project grants to recreation projects around the country to ensure land remains accessible for responsible recreationists.

“This project is a great opportunity for the Forest Service and the forest visitors to work with Hummer and Tread Lightly!, who are dedicated to providing recreational experiences while protecting the integrity of the forest ,” said Greg Marks, Sierra National Forest Off Highway Vehicle Manager.

The volunteer team worked the entire day to improve and stabilize a section of the Bald Mountain trail that is subject to erosion during the spring snow thaw and summer storms. The group also closed and restored unauthorized routes that developed over time. The project concluded with the development of a trail map and brochure to ensure that visitors drive only on the designated routes and learn the Tread Lightly! principles to responsible recreation.

Volunteers from several U.S. states and Canada participated in the event, representing more than eight off-road organizations, including: Clovis Independent Four Wheelers; Mountain Toppers Four Wheel Drive Club of Fresno; California Association of Four Wheel Drive Clubs, Inc; California Association of Four Wheel Drive Clubs Safety and Education Foundation, Inc.; 4x4Him Christian Wheelers; Californians for Public Access, Inc, (Cal Access); Northern California Land Rover; and Lock and Low Four Wheel Drive Club of Visalia.

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